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Ex-leader Donald Trump stated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared peace plan was "not my final offer", after fierce reaction from Ukraine's leaders and commentators that compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief comments at the White House, the US president told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Involve Various Countries

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in these negotiations in Geneva.

Ahead of the talks, American lawmakers informed media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the details of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Deadline

However, the former president has set Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to cede land under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision in the near future involving preserving its national dignity and losing key ally in the shape of the US. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukraine's Dialogue Delegation Formed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments this weekend, the president said that genuine or "dignified" peace depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by top aide Andriy Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and security council official Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at red lines, Umerov added: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

Global Reaction and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration seemingly determined to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has made clear that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives issued a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a public figure involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he stated.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. The agreement offered very little in the Trump agreement and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he said.

Should Ukraine accept the terms Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he added. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned her appreciation to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She said that the nation ought to consider ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she said.

EU Leaders Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."